Best Companies to Work for in Colorado:ReadyTalk

For many people, a job is a grind that eats away at health and mental state.

But April Trubell, an account executive with Denver-based ReadyTalk, will happily tell you that thanks to her job, she's never felt better.

Her health-care benefits are paid by her employer. She takes advantage of free yoga classes, massages and chiropractic services. When she goes out for a run, she has a locker room where she can shower off before getting back to work.

"I've worked at companies where I've liked my job, but I didn't know what I was missing until I came here," says Trubell, who adds that she has lost more than 100 pounds since working for ReadyTalk. "We all have to do a good job at work, but the difference is the company leaders really care about your health, so we care about it. We motivate ourselves."

It's all part of the plan, say Dan and Scott King, the company's founders. Happy, healthy employees are great employees.

ReadyTalk provides audio and Web conferencing services, and offers a variety of audio conferencing options, Web conferencing tools and recording and archiving services. It employs 130 people now, and expects to hire several more people this year.

ReadyTalk's audio and Web conferencing services are used by more than 5,000 companies in more than 70 countries worldwide.

The company boasted revenue of $21.6 million in 2010, which led to its recognition as one of Deloitte's Fastest Growing Tech Companies for the fourth consecutive year. This year, it was also recognized by Inc. magazine and Winning Workplaces as a winner of the Top Small Company Workplaces competition - an annual contest that recognizes the nation's best small and mid-sized company work environments.

The King brothers, who were on vacation when this article was written, believe that happy employees are productive employees.

"What we're really trying to do is look at the long term," said Dan King in a 2010 interview with ColoradoBiz. "That drives the management. The way you drive growth is through referrals from really satisfied customers. And the way you satisfy customers is through highly engaged employees."

The company's founders would also add that giving back to the community is all-important to the success of the business.

In 2010, company employees committed themselves to keeping Denver's Skyline Park clean. They also organized trail maintenance and clean-ups in Rocky Mountain National Park.

ReadyTalk matches all employee donations to charitable organizations up to $500 a year, and offers every employee the chance to spend 20 hours of paid time a year donating their efforts to a charity.

All of this makes the ReadyTalk team feel like a happy family, Trubell says.

"When I first worked here, I was a single mother with two young boys," she said. "Once in a while, I'd have to take my boys to work with me, and at first I was nervous.

"I soon found out that they were welcome. Dan King would walk by and talk with them. Everyone welcomed them. At company events, they were invited to play. The team here, they really are a family. I'd never want to break their trust."

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